508 good reasons to take note


While the WAI guidelines have been widely endorsed and followed, the stakes rose in 1998, when the United States Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide equal accessibility to technology and electronic information. Specifically, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, requires that, ‘as of June 2001, computer software applications purchased or developed by federal agencies are designed for accessibility by people who are blind, deaf or have poor motor skills’. Before you ask, that includes e-learning applications, so, if you want to do business with the US government (and they spend more on e-learning than anyone else), then you comply with Section 508. US business and educational institutions are likely to follow suit, making the world’s largest market ‘inaccessible’ to e-learning providers who don’t comply. Classroom training providers tend to operate within national boundaries, but e-learning providers really need the widest possible audience to justify the large investment in content development.

Case study: Age Concern

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Age Concern turned to e-learning for the first time, to train their volunteer work force in all aspects of their policies and practices. With many of these working occasional, irregular or part-time hours and rarely in the same place at the same time, classroom-based training was a logistical nightmare. Age Concern felt that an e-learning solution was the answer and decided to create an online training programme that covered volunteering, health and safety, equal opportunities and confidentiality policies.

Much of the content already existed in print format. A much bigger issue was the demographic profile of the target audience. With a large percentage over retirement age, the possibility of deteriorated vision and less than perfect hand/eye coordination were a significant consideration. A lack of familiarity with computers was also a potential obstacle.

E-learning developer BrightWave was engaged to help to realise the charity’s vision and worked hand-in-hand with their client to find a design that was tailor-made for the audience. Unlike many e-learning designs, here simplicity was the key. There were to be no complex drag and drop exercises; the hotspots would be well separated, large and differentiated by shape and colour; the fonts and colours themselves were chosen with consideration for the visually impaired. In addition, all graphics and other media assets were designed for very low bandwidth, allowing Age Concern volunteers access using dial-up connections and older computers.

The specific challenges presented by the end-user demographics tested the maxim that technology should not interfere with learning to the full. With all the bells and whistles deliberately stripped away from the user interface, it was possible to focus totally on content and usability. This sentiment was echoed by Age Concern Training & Development Manager Paul Devlin who added, Working with BrightWave, we have produced a programme that has an excellent look and feel and covers a good breadth of content. We have come up with something that will, I'm sure, benefit others in the federation.”

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One provider that really had to take Section 508 seriously was NETg. Buttriss relates how they addressed the challenge: “About two years ago, we realised we had to make changes if we were to conform to the Act. We determined that, if we were to do anything, then we had to do it properly. It simply wasn’t on to create special courses for the disabled – our standard offerings just had to be accessible. After a massive effort of re-engineering, our entire IT and soft skills ranges are now compliant.”

NETg has been joined in the chase by SkillSoft. Last November, the Company announced the release of 373 upgraded business skills courses, fully compliant with Section 508. This release was the result of a year-long development initiative which included adapting courses to work with screen readers and other assistive technologies, providing text descriptions for all visual imagery, and ensuring all audio components had text equivalents. All components of SkillSoft courses, including learning objects and job aids, were incorporated in the initiative.




E-Learning's Greatest Hits
E-learnings Greatest Hits
ISBN: 0954590406
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 198

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